Category Archives: Tonga & Minerva Reef

Weathering the Storm at Foa

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Another big system was on the forecast and we needed to make a move.  Well, technically we loved the anchorage at Uoleva as it was so incredibly calm and peaceful.  However, we don’t have much time in Tonga and we had to continue moving North.  So, we decided to make a short stop in Lifuka before heading to Foa where we planned to hide from the storm.

Uoleva, where we were anchored, is only 4nm to Lifuka.  It was a super short motor to the “main” island of the Ha’apai group.  This is where we are supposed to clear in and clear out of the Ha’apai group.  So, we came to Lifuka and anchored in front of the main village called Pangai.  It is a super small town with 8 Chinese markets, a small fresh produce area, a hardware store, auto parts store, and a western union.  All of these businesses are within a 5 minute walk of eachother on the main road in the center of “town.”

We stopped by customs first to do our formalities, then checked out the rest of the town. We were able to dispose of our rubbish and we picked up some apples, mandarin oranges, and fresh bread.  I will call this a successful trip!

Here is a great shot of Sugar Shack at the Pangai anchorage in front of the Koa volcano!

Onward to Foa

Going from Lifuka to Foa is only 9nm so it will be another short motor.  The good thing is we can charge the house batteries!  We make our way around the shallow shoals and bommies and sneak into a little anchroage close to shore in 4m of sand.

As you can see, these three islands are pretty close together.

Matt caught a bug of some sort which actually put him down for 3 days.  Usually he can power through his colds but not this one.  Good thing we were at a pretty safe anchorage.  

Passage from Ha’apai to Vava’u

Believe it or not another large system was coming and we needed to move on.  The sail from Foa in Ha’apai to Vava’u is about 55-65nm.  We needed a fairly decent weather window that would not put too much strain on our one poor hard working rudder.  But, we also needed to leave.

The passage was about 67nm and we wanted to arrive during daylight.  We left our little spot on Foa around 0730 and had moderate winds at 10-15kts out of the SE and sucky 2.5-3m waves.  At least the waves were coming in long intervals so it was not a bash or a washer machine ride.  The boat was a little unsteady and had a hard time holding course.  However, considering she only had one rudder we both thought she did pretty darn good!

Here is a photo of the Vava’u group which looks remarkably like the Marquesas in French Polynesia or a blown up Bay of Islands in the Lao group of Fiji.

And a real life photo

We drop the hook at Port Maurelle around 1600 with 3 other boats.  But before night fall another 5 boats showed up making it 9 boats in this anchroage.  We are no longer in the serenity islands of Ha’apai.

Matt and I enjoying a cold frosty drink celebrating our arrival.

This blog post occured the first of August.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We explore the Island of walks in our last blog post.

Uoleva

Uoleva: The Island of Walks

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Uoleva is a beautiful “w” shapped island that has a 6-mile, white, sandy beach that surrounds it.  In the center is a lush forest full of palm trees and thick vegetation.  There are no markets, gas stations, roads, churches, cell towers, or modern conveniences.  Three small resorts (20ppl or less each) and a kite surf school are based here.  But it is not easy to get here.

Guests usually fly into Fiji, then into Vava’u, then into Lifuka.  From there, the guests are shuttled in a boat for 20-minutes to Uoleva.  You have to really want to come here.  But once you are here, you are in a true island paradise.

Each resort offers a variety of packages including room and board.  They have generators, solar, wifi, water tanks and made lovely conveniences that make your stay comfortable.  We visited Serenity and Sea Change. 

Getting to Uoleva

We had a 35nm sail from Tanoa to Uoleva.  It was another light wind day so we decided to put up our medium spinnaker.  She needed to dry out a bit anyway and we were not in a big hurry.  Can you see that we are going faster than the wind?  I love when that happens (thanx to the sea surfing us down a wave).

Along the way, we had several whales swim near us and show us their best tricks. I love the tail wave and the flipper wave.

Anchorage

We decided to anchor somewhere different than most boats.  Most boats anchor in front of the resorts but we decided to anchor on the other side so we had a lovely view of the towering palm trees over the sandy beach.

We had a fantastic sunset on our first night.  

6-mile Loop around Uoleva

The next day we decided to walk around Uoleva.  We left at low tide with some water and our flip flops.  We knew it would be a long walk, but truth be told, I had no idea it would be 6 miles!

Most of the walk was on a soft, sandy beach.  There were a few areas where we had to walk on the limestone, coral rocks and or jump over or crawl under fallen trees (from the tsunami).

Walking 6-miles is not that big of a deal to us, but walking 6-miles in soft sand makes you work!  I ws exhausted and so ready for a cold drink and a chair.

We found a couple of short cuts that take you from east to west (or visa versa).  One even tempted you with a sign that said “beer.”  But we did not succomb to our desires for a cold beverave, we kept going around the island.

We ended up at Serenity Resort.  We asked three people for a cold drink of water and a beer for Matt.  They are not used to outsiders coming for food or drinks so we certainly confused them.  They did serve us but it was not customary.  So, we moved on to Sea Change Ecco Resort which happily offered us a Tongan cocktail and cold beer.

We were pretty darn tired so headed back to the boat and enjoyed another lovely sunset.  This is the Koa volcano in the disrtance.

Sea Change Ecco Resort

Not sure if you remember, but a year and a half ago I met this woman named Krista on a whale watching tour.  She lives in Hawaii and works with marine animals for a living.  We kept in touch and to our surprise, we were both going to be in Tonga at the same time!  So, we made plans to visit her at the Sea Change Ecco Resort where she was working giving whale tours, massages, and doing generally anything and everything around the place.

She gave us a tour around the resort and then we caught up over a cold drink after our walk.  She is so fabulous and nice!

The owners Clint and Maria live in Auckland when they are not living here in Tonga running their beautiful little resort on Uoleva.

This blog occured toward the end of July 2023.  Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  In our last blog I wrote about the small bump in the pacific ocean called Tanoa.

Tanoa: A bump in the Pacific

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We are continuing our quest to find a calm anchorage.   This time we head toward a tiny bump in the middle of the Pacific called Tanoa.  It is still considered in the southern section of the Ha’apia group.  This little island is a mere 8nm miles from Telekitonga so we unfurl the jib and enjoy a slow motor sail.  We have a mere 4-5kts of wind so not making fast progress at all but we are topping up the batteries and making water.

There is a giant reef that surrounds this little islands.  The island is in the middle of the reef which makes a sort of “w” around it. We thought we would surely be protected from the southerly swell which was coming from the bottom part of the photo.  But, we were wrong. 

We arrived late in the afternoon and dropped the hook.  We grabbed the dinghy to explore the island but the surrounding reefs made it hard to safely leave the dinghy.  So, Matt dropped me off while I explored the island which took about 10-minutes.

The beach only covered about half the island.  The rest of the island is limestone covered in brush and 4 palm trees.

Across from Tanoa island is the big island of Fonoifua which has a small village.  We did not go over there but admired them from our little paradise.

Events from this blog occured toward the end of July.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We enjoy a nice long walk around the Telekitonga island in our last blog.